Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity kickstarted her gubernatorial campaign Monday with an attack ad against Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic incumbent who may have presidential aspirations in 2028.
Garrity, a Republican in her second term as treasurer, is a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and corporate executive who has vowed to bring affordability and fiscal responsibility to the state. In the Republican primary, she could compete against state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who is weighing another run for governor after he was trounced by Shapiro in 2022.
Garrity has pledged to "fix the problems" of the Shapiro administration, singling out the state's overdue budget and rising costs for utilities and groceries. She endorsed President Donald Trump in last year's presidential election and included a photo taken with him at a rally in her new campaign ad. Trump previously had been expected to endorse a gubernatorial campaign run by state Rep. Dan Meuser, who withdrew from consideration in July.
Shapiro, who made the short-list of Democratic vice presidential candidates last year, is widely expected to run for governor again next year and leverage his vast fundraising network to defeat a Republican challenger. Shapiro has not said whether he intends to run for president, but he's got a rising national profile in a Democratic party searching for charismatic leaders.
Last year, Shapiro declined to make an endorsement in the race for Pennsylvania treasurer after Democratic candidate Erin McLelland criticized him as a potential running mate for Kamala Harris. Garrity benefited by landing endorsements from labor groups that otherwise might have sided with McLelland.
Ahead of Garrity's run for governor, some labor groups — including the Philadelphia Building Trades Council — already have made clear their allegiance will be with Shapiro.
Garrity is vying to become the first woman to serve as Pennsylvania governor and first Republican to hold the office since Tom Corbett's lone term concluded in January 2015. Garrity has been a staunch opponent of abortion and an advocate for fiscal conservatism. The Bradford County native and Iraq war veteran increasingly has aligned with Trump administration policies, including last month's federal tax breaks and spending cuts.
Republicans have a more hopeful outlook in Pennsylvania after Trump took the battleground state in November and state row offices — including treasurer and attorney general — also went to the GOP. Next year's mid-term elections could dampen that momentum in a state where Shapiro has successfully won over moderate and independent voters, twice winning races for attorney general before becoming governor.
Garrity will be the frontrunner in the Republican field ahead of the Pennsylvania GOP's anticipated endorsement in September.